10/100Mbps NIC, what gives...

[Michael Poole]

Vincent Trouilliez writes:

[snip]
> So, all these Ethernet cards that are alwyas called "10/100", does it
> mean they have two distinct modes of operation ? How does one control
> what speed the card is set for ? Can Linux control it ? How can I
> check.modify this ?

For many NICs, the "ethtool" program can report what your card
supports and what its current state is.

My guess is that your NIC supports 100 Mbps, but the cable modem only
supports 10 Mbps -- and the NIC switches down to the slower speed to
match.  (Less likely, the cable modem switches to the slowest speed it
needs to use -- in which case a forced re-negotiation using ethtool or
a power cycle should change the negotiated rate.)

Michael Poole